Researching the Viet Nam War Inside Vietnam

How Does It Feel

Could you imagine being in the middle of a war? Just take a moment and put yourself in the shoes of a soldier. When I think about it, I become so overwhelmed with fear. Of course the honorable and loyal thing to do is defend your country in its time of need but all I could think of is how would I get out of it if there were a draft and I know I’m not alone in feeling that way.

I chose to research and write about the Vietnam War. According to an article Researching the Viet Nam War inside Viet Nam: U.S. student teachers explore war myths in Time, The Vietnam War occurred from 1959 to April 30, 1975. The war was fought between the Communist-supported Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the US supported Republic of Vietnam. For the United States, the war ended with the withdrawal of American troops and failure of its foreign policy in Vietnam. On April 30, 1975, the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon fell to the communist forces of North Vietnam, ending the Vietnam War.

I know this sounds a bit ignorant but the movies I have seen about Vietnam and the things you hear about on the news regarding the war almost seem unreal to me because I find it so atrocious that things like that actually have and do go on.

I watched a couple of movies for this paper to get a better understanding of what these brave men went through and their mental state serving in the Vietnam War. The first movie I watched was a film called The Deer Hunter.

The Deer Hunter is a movie taken place in the 1960’s about three friends who are steel workers from Pennsylvania and their experience in the Vietnam War. The three friend’s names are Mike, Steven and Nick.

There was a part in the movie which reflected on how scared these young men were about fighting in this war. In a scene where the friends we’re all drinking and partying together before the trio left for the war Nick, (played by Christopher Walkin) turned to Mike (played by Robert De Niro) and said, “Don’t leave me; you gotta promise that Mike; if anything happens, don’t leave me out there; you gotta promise defiantly.” I thought this was so sad because he was so young and scared and had no idea what might be in store for him when he got there. He seemed so desperate when he turned to his friend and asked him to make him this promise when his friend was in the same situation as him. These young men shouldn’t have had to feel this way. Nobody should.

I thought this was a remarkable film about friendship and courage and what happens to their qualities under hardship. It mostly gave me good insight to the way these men thought and felt during this sad time.

The second film I watched was called The U.S. vs. John Lennon. This was a documentary about John Lennon and his protests against the Vietnam War. Many people know him as an ex-Beatle, for his song Imagine and the fact that he got shot. This film shows his political activism and his struggle with the U.S. authorities during the Vietnam War and how incredibly courageous he was to stand up to the powers of the United States. Lennon also feared for his life by taking such a stance because this was a time when the Secret Services had the authority to take people out if deemed in the national interest. It was such a crazy time. Not only were people fighting the war scared but free Americans who thought they had freedom of speech and wanted to have their voice be heard had to worry about their lives during protests.

It is so hard to trust our leaders. We hear so many different things and opinions and there are so many horrible things going that we think our leaders won’t let happen but they do happen and a lot of times we can’t figure out why they do. Lennon said in his film “Society is run by insane people for insane objectives.” That is a really scary thought but I do feel like a lot. I would like to trust our leaders and believe that they have our best interest, but like many others I am